I found this book needlessly repetitive and overwritten, with scene after scene of horrible events past and present and depressingly suicidal views of life in northern Mexico. At some point, you start empathizing with the life choices of the brutalized citizenry, who leave in droves or lock themselves in their houses, and lose patience with the protagonist and the "victims" he's "helping". The pace is frantic, but the plot moves very slowly. And you just know there's so much more awful stuff to come! I didn't finish, got half way through and abandoned it. Also, I found the translation often quaint in its use of American slang to translate the Spanish slang. The translator would have been better off to just leave the Spanish and provide a nice glossary. Finally, I found some of the characters performing roles that seemed unlikely, like the American consul character, who seemed to have outsize influence for his lowly job. I kept hoping for a revelation that he was CIA or something, but it just goes on and on with him providing all the important connections that the detective needs, without any explanation of why or how he has so much influence.